GSC Systems is as secure as its products

Published: Saturday, July 27, 2013 at 03:32 PM.

FORT WALTON BEACH — After more than 40 years and five recessions, GSC Systems owners Gene and Caralee Gibson know it takes focus and adaptability to be successful.

“The whole idea of keeping your head up is maintaining visibility, to constantly be looking and listening and probing to see what opportunities are available,” Gene Gibson said. “For the local businessman, that’s everything. If you can’t be responsive to what’s available that you can offer to your clients or to the public, chances are you’re not going to do well.

“We have been very, very fortunate in that we have been able to adapt,” he added.

GSC, which employs about 25 people, specializes in the development and installation of security and intrusion detection systems, integrated access control systems, fiber optics, data communications and life-saving systems such as fire and smoke detection and monitoring systems.

“I never wanted to be one of those business people that had to avoid their customers if they walked down the same isle in the grocery store,” Gibson said. “I wanted to be able to see my customers in the non-business environment and be able to treat them just like I would my neighbors. If you’re going to be in business, especially in a small town, that’s what small business is all about.”

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Gibson’s inspiration came from the moon.

Before starting GSC, he was on Boeing’s engineering team that worked on NASA’s Gemini and Apollo space missions. He was a mass properties engineer for Apollo 11, the first mission to land a man on the moon, when he was part of the team that made sure the spaceship would remain stable as its center of mass changed as fuel was being burned.

After Apollo 11, Gibson was offered new positions in Boeing that would have required him to move to Wichita, Kan., or Seattle. Instead, he started GSC in New Orleans in 1970 with a friend from the Navy.

The Mary Esther native moved back to Okaloosa County two years later and incorporated the business in Fort Walton Beach. Its first office was on Walter Martin Road across the street from the post office.

GSC’s first client was Eglin Air Force Base, which was developing a lot of ammunition for the Vietnam War. Gibson created intrusion systems to protect the depots that housed the ammunition.

After a series of deadly hotel fires around the world in the 1970s, particularly Joelma Building fire in 1974 that killed 179 people, GSC got involved with developing life-saving systems. The first building to get its system was Shoreline Towers in Destin.

Since then the company has expanded into the residential business. It did a lot of work in the 1990s on luxury homes in South Walton County. More recently, GSC installed the electronics systems at the new cantonment for the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

“That was certainly the largest undertaking we had ever been involved in, but it was well within our capabilities,” Gibson said. “Although we had installed similar systems in multi-building projects and hardened high security facilities, we had never had a project that was more like a complete city involving 100 or so buildings. Some of these are very large buildings, filled with sensitive communications of all kinds.”

GSC is certainly a family business. Gene Gibson is the company’s CEO and general manager and Caralee Gibson is the COO and majority owner. Two of their sons work at the company, as do two of their daughters-in-law. The family dog Cookie is at the office almost every day.

Even before they joined the company, the Gibsons’ kids were always around. Caralee Gibson said an unexpected benefit of that was they learned to be very comfortable in a business environment and have developed many skills by observation and participation.

When it came time to expand the business in 1994 and build a new headquarters, the Gibsons designed their office building with their family in mind.

“We needed a place for our children to be able to come to after school and do their homework, but still be with us,” Caralee Gibson said. “We included a large enough building that they would have enough space to play on their motor scooters and work on their vehicles. We even included a complete kitchen for sharing meals, just like at home.”

“If you’re going to be a mom and pop, you might as well go ahead and do it right,” Gene Gibson added. “If we’re going to be at work for the better part of our lives, it might as well be in an environment that we all can enjoy.”

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FORT WALTON BEACH — After more than 40 years and five recessions, GSC Systems owners Gene and Caralee Gibson know it takes focus and adaptability to be successful.

“The whole idea of keeping your head up is maintaining visibility, to constantly be looking and listening and probing to see what opportunities are available,” Gene Gibson said. “For the local businessman, that’s everything. If you can’t be responsive to what’s available that you can offer to your clients or to the public, chances are you’re not going to do well.

“We have been very, very fortunate in that we have been able to adapt,” he added.

GSC, which employs about 25 people, specializes in the development and installation of security and intrusion detection systems, integrated access control systems, fiber optics, data communications and life-saving systems such as fire and smoke detection and monitoring systems.

“I never wanted to be one of those business people that had to avoid their customers if they walked down the same isle in the grocery store,” Gibson said. “I wanted to be able to see my customers in the non-business environment and be able to treat them just like I would my neighbors. If you’re going to be in business, especially in a small town, that’s what small business is all about.”

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Gibson’s inspiration came from the moon.

Before starting GSC, he was on Boeing’s engineering team that worked on NASA’s Gemini and Apollo space missions. He was a mass properties engineer for Apollo 11, the first mission to land a man on the moon, when he was part of the team that made sure the spaceship would remain stable as its center of mass changed as fuel was being burned.

After Apollo 11, Gibson was offered new positions in Boeing that would have required him to move to Wichita, Kan., or Seattle. Instead, he started GSC in New Orleans in 1970 with a friend from the Navy.

The Mary Esther native moved back to Okaloosa County two years later and incorporated the business in Fort Walton Beach. Its first office was on Walter Martin Road across the street from the post office.

GSC’s first client was Eglin Air Force Base, which was developing a lot of ammunition for the Vietnam War. Gibson created intrusion systems to protect the depots that housed the ammunition.

After a series of deadly hotel fires around the world in the 1970s, particularly Joelma Building fire in 1974 that killed 179 people, GSC got involved with developing life-saving systems. The first building to get its system was Shoreline Towers in Destin.

Since then the company has expanded into the residential business. It did a lot of work in the 1990s on luxury homes in South Walton County. More recently, GSC installed the electronics systems at the new cantonment for the Army 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

“That was certainly the largest undertaking we had ever been involved in, but it was well within our capabilities,” Gibson said. “Although we had installed similar systems in multi-building projects and hardened high security facilities, we had never had a project that was more like a complete city involving 100 or so buildings. Some of these are very large buildings, filled with sensitive communications of all kinds.”

GSC is certainly a family business. Gene Gibson is the company’s CEO and general manager and Caralee Gibson is the COO and majority owner. Two of their sons work at the company, as do two of their daughters-in-law. The family dog Cookie is at the office almost every day.

Even before they joined the company, the Gibsons’ kids were always around. Caralee Gibson said an unexpected benefit of that was they learned to be very comfortable in a business environment and have developed many skills by observation and participation.

When it came time to expand the business in 1994 and build a new headquarters, the Gibsons designed their office building with their family in mind.

“We needed a place for our children to be able to come to after school and do their homework, but still be with us,” Caralee Gibson said. “We included a large enough building that they would have enough space to play on their motor scooters and work on their vehicles. We even included a complete kitchen for sharing meals, just like at home.”

“If you’re going to be a mom and pop, you might as well go ahead and do it right,” Gene Gibson added. “If we’re going to be at work for the better part of our lives, it might as well be in an environment that we all can enjoy.”